<p>thumper, we are also a two-Volvo family and I can attest to the benefit of snow tires. I don’t have them on my XC wagon because it’s AWD and can get through anything but we put them on my daughter’s little S40 sedan and they make a huge difference.</p>
<p>Oops Sally…I meant to direct my post to Surfcity! Not you!!</p>
<p>Yes Surfcity, there are places where folks still use snow tires…and as Sally and I have noted, there are certain cars that benefit from having snow tires in the winter!</p>
<p>As far as snow tires are concerned, when we had front wheel drive cars, I started using all weather tires. Even when I was younger, we would only put on two snow tires on rear wheel cars. I now put on 4 snow tires on each car and the difference it makes is huge. I can drive anywhere, up hills and there are a lot where I live,go to work and never skid while everybody around me is all over the place. The snow tires were one of the best investments I ever made and I actually enjoy driving in bad weather.</p>
<p>Well I saw the first snowplow of the season on a pick-up today. And it’s still over 50 degrees. (But it looked brand new, so maybe he was just driving it home.) </p>
<p>A bunch of school closing a here aleady…and that seldom happens the night before. I think the kids could get to school, but if the forecast holds up, the worst of this is between 11-3 when the buses would be traveling home…schools dismiss early tomorrow.</p>
<p>Hopefully, some folks who were planning to drive tomorrow can now leave ASAP tonight!</p>
<p>When my H drove an Infiniti he had snow tires. They were essential and were great. My friend drives a bmw and she has snow tires. When she went last week to get her tires changed out, she waited 4 hours! It was crazy but she sure is glad they are on. That bmw is hard to drive without snow tires. </p>
<p>Here in Northern Michigan lots of people have snow tires. It’s very common. We don’t but I drive a Subaru so I have awd</p>
<p>We got 5-6 inches last night, the main roads were clear at 10:00 am. The secondary roads they don’t salt but the plows came through. </p>
<p>I have them on my Lexus. This is the first car since I was a teen I’ve had snows. Even though my car wasn’t horrible in snow, snow tires make driving so much easier and I feel much safer behind the wheel with them on. What I really would like is if the people in big SUV’s stop thinking they are invincible in bad weather and go way too fast for the road conditions. </p>
<p>D2 got in last night expecting D1 tonight around midnight and hitting the road at 6 am. Fingers crossed we get to NJ before it’s too horrible (coming from CT). I am expecting other family members may not make it to NJ - one flying in tomorrow evening from NC a couple driving from DC the rest are there or more local. Usually I host Thanksgiving - and this kind of weather is one of the main reasons why!</p>
<p>Good luck, NewEnglandMother. That is a lot of driving.</p>
<p>One more thing about snow tires: even though I live in the upper midwest, I stupidly fell in love with a house with no garage. So for my daughter’s car, I use a service at Discount Tire that allows you to store the off-season tires and have them switched out twice a year. It’s not the most economical way to deal with things but it is great for anyone who doesn’t have a place to store tires or the patience/know-how to switch them themselves.</p>
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<p>Most people who live in areas that get lots of snow get winter tires. All season tires are not the same. We have winter tires on all of our family cars. </p>
<p>p.s. It doesn’t matter if you have AWD, winter tires are still a good idea.</p>
<p>We moved out of NH 18 months ago but when we were there, everyone used snow tires. We had to climb a long steep winding hill to get home and had studded snow tires on all our cars.</p>
<p>I have snow tires on all 4 wheels of my Hyundai. If I get a call for an emergency (church) or am scheduled with a home care client whose life depends on someone getting there, I need to be prepared.</p>
<p>My parents were traveling from Western NY to Boston today by train, and had been warned that they would be starting late due to track problems still from snow.</p>
<p>I’m in New England…an hour and a half from Boston where my two kids are in college. They are coming home tonight and just texted me that traffic WAS backed up 60 miles and now only backed up 30 miles. They will be leaving by 10:30pmish and arriving home by @ midnite. That’s great! They will lose their reserved seats on the bus trip tomorrow at peak snow time…no problem, glad to have them home tonight instead.</p>
<p>I moved my kids up to earlier flights tomorrow, and got lucky on mine. Instead of ending up in Newark, they are sending me to Los Angeles. Much longer day, but no dealing with a possible snow event. Whew!</p>
<p>My daughter flew from Hartford thru Newark into Charlotte last night. The last leg left on time, but somehow lost 35 minutes in what is supposed to be a 90 minute flight, and landed late. We were both complaining, mostly because United didn’t seem to know where their airplane was. All signs in the airport and on the website said the flight was ontime, yet here I was at the airport and she wasn’t responding on her phone. Meanwhile, she was on a plane that was “landing” for 40 minutes. And once down they didn’t know where the gate was. I’m thinking rookie pilot.</p>
<p>But on the upside, the hourly parking in the airport is actually open again after two years. The traffic to and from the airport was easy, despite all warnings to the contrary. And she made it home. 
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<p>It’s just raining now in central CT, but who knows what it’ll be when S2’s train arrives around 2:30 and S1’s bus around 8pm, provided no delays. It doesn’t seem that any 2 weather forecasts are the same.</p>
<p>Well, I am going to start asking around about snow tires. They clean the streets pretty quickly here and I have AWD so I never even considering snow tires.</p>
<p>As of 10 am here the rain has changed to SNOW!</p>
<p>It’s snowing here but not yet really sticking to the roads. I would guess we have an inch judging from my deck snow. Driveway has a coating of snow…and it’s 36 degrees here. It’s going to be messy.</p>
<p>Not snowing here, yet, but they have upped our totals to 10-16 inches. I’m pretty sure the high end is for the surrounding high elevation areas but it still sucks. </p>
<p>At least the temps are going to be back into the high 40’s later in the week and it should all melt - we still have raking to do. 
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<p>Trust me, UCDAlum82, the United pilot knows where the gate is. If I thought my pilot was so dumb they couldn’t find a gate clearly marked on their flight manuals, I wouldn’t fly on that airline. As much as I dislike United, all their pilots are highly experienced. Chances are either United messed up the flight following, or the gate was occupied and they had to wait or switch gates.</p>